(Closed) How young is too you and how long is too long? (kids & travel)

I want to get some input. I want to know if I am off base or if my thinking is right

Here’s the deal:

My friend is a single mom and has a 7yr old son

She has a brother/his uncle who he adores and who lives 3000k miles away in NY

Mom is 26 and Uncle is 30

The uncle has offered to take the boy for the entire summer. 9 weeks

The boy will fly there alone and his mother will pick him up and bring him back

I am not a mom and don’t have kids yet

My opinion is that 7 is WAY to young to go away from home for 9 weeks

I think he will get really homesick and miss his mom.

I also think 7 is too young to fly alone unless there was no other choice like with some divorced parents.

He is only in 1st grade right now and this idea seems WAY too old for him.

This is happening for sure and I am not asking because I have any input on the decision. But I wonder if I am wrong about this. Or am I right to think it seems wrong?

Parents….what do you think?

I also wonder about my friend. He is not the most patient and kid friendly person and his boyfriend is REALLY impatient. He loves his nephew and wants to give him a great expirience but I feel that it’s a little nieve to just take a 7year old for 9 weeks. I don’t think this is going to end well.

Am I totally off base? Should I be more supportive or am I right to have some reservations?

Starting around that age I used to go to my grandparents over entire summers. I loved it as a kid, since my grandparents lived three states away and I never got to see them. I would get homesick from time to time and by the end I was ready to go home. But I loved it there and would have been bored at home all summer.

Also, I think kids fly that young fairly often. Airlines seem to be pretty good about making sure young kids that fly by themselves get everywhere they need to be.

i remember the first time i left my parents was to visit my grandma with my sister for one week when i was 10 and i was still terrified and homesick. but different kids are different. some children spend their summers at camp, my parents didn’t like us doing that. either way, it’s your friend’s child, not yours, so even if you aren’t ok with this i don’t think there’s much you can do. i feel like people don’t like to be told how to raise their children.

@artbee Oh, I wasn’t going to SAY anything! 😉 I didn’t mean that I thought it was bad and that I was TELLING them this. No no……I am just feeling this on the inside and I wonder if I am being unreasonable.

I did mention to the mom that maybe he wouldg et homesick and was surprised that she said hadn’t even thought about that. But the kid says he WANTS to go…and he says he wants to go the whole summer. He is signed up to go to a YMCA summer camp program during the week

I am only one person and so I only have one childhood to base things on. I try to remember what I did at 7. And it seemed lie 2 months away from home was too long. But it sounds like maybe I am wrong and a kid that age is actually ok being away from mom for that long.

The mom can get a gate pass to walk her son through security all the way to the gate and sit with him til the plane takes off. The uncle can also be at the other gate, ready to get him when the plane lands so other than flying the boy will never be without someone he knows. I don’t think that’s such a big deal.

My daughter is only one, so I have no idea how I’ll feel in 6 years, but 9 weeks does sound like a very long time for a first trip. Hell, I was away from home for 20 days at age 17 and still got a little homesick. I’d suggest still going, but maybe shortening the trip, if it were me.

I think I flew alone for the first time when I was 5. I thought it was a fun adventure! the flight attendants totally watch after you so its no big deal. Also kids that young start going to summer camp for 8 week stretches so I don’t think it is all that unusual – and the guy is family! Whether he knows what he is for, I doubt it, but it could still be a very special and memorable experience for the little boy – and a lesson to the uncle 🙂

I travelled on a plane alone at 8 and it was so much fun! The people looking after me took me to the one gate and my parents were at the other gate when I landed. The flight attendents were awesome – they gave me tons of games and cookies to keep me busy. And I got to go into the cockpit with the pilot (don’t know if they still do that though LOL).

9 weeks seems a little long but I am sure if he gets homesick he can go home early. I started going to camp fairly young and I loved it. Don’t think I have ever experienced home sickness – but every kid is different and I never went away for 9 weeks.

Yeah, I was used to traveling to all four of my aunt’s houses during the entire summer, christmas, and spring break.(mother wasn’t in picture) My sister and I traveled by train when we were around that age. Train crew helped get us together at the correct stop, made sure we ate, etc. Just as long as the flight crew is aware of the circumstances, accomodations can be made. Has he flown before? I flew for the first time alone, but if it’s his first time there really should be someone there with him.

I think the traveling part alone is fine….I would just be more concerned about the unexperienced uncle. I mean, he is 30 years old and taking care of this boy for more than 2 months. Does the uncle not work or something? And if he does work, Where and what is the boy going to do in NY while the Uncle is working?

I think its fine, but i think it also depends on the kid. Im thinking the parent should know her son well enough to know whether he would be okay for that long or not. Ive seen some kids that say they want to go but the parents know that their kids say that now, but wont be saying that for long after their gone. So i think it depends.